Nation's Oldest Marathon, and a Local Holiday Tradition

The Boston Marathon, which dates to 1897, is the oldest such race in the U.S. and one of six in the World Marathon Majors series along with contests in New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo.

The annual Boston run is held on the third Monday in April and coincides with Patriots' Day, a Massachusetts holiday that commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord.

More Coverage of the Blast

To qualify for the race, athletes must run an earlier marathon within a certain time. According to the website of the Boston Athletic Association, which stages the race, the qualifying time for men younger than 35 years old is 3 hours and 5 minutes or faster. For most amateurs that would be lightning fast. This year, 26,839 people registered to participate, the BAA site said.

Explosions Rock Boston

The course begins on Main Street in the town of Hopkinton and finishes near Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. Start times are staggered, and runners typically begin arriving at the finish line around noon with the remainder of the field coming in over the next several hours.

Runners typically pick up their checked belongings from school buses parked near the finish line. Families and friends of runners also gather in designated areas nearby to await the marathoners as they cross the finish line.

This year, the 26-mile marker—which would be 0.2 mile from the finish line—was dedicated to the 26 victims of December's elementary-school shooting in Newtown, Conn., according to the Associated Press. The town's municipal logo adorned with 26 stars was displayed there, and race organizers requested 26 seconds of silence before the start, the AP said.

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